This ‘Harley-Davidson bicycle’ sold for more than PHP 50M

Las Vegas auction sells vintage HD for USD 935K

If you think that a PHP 1.4M Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special is expensive, wait ‘till you see this motorcycle from Milwaukee that is more of a bicycle than a motorcycle and was recently sold for a whopping PHP 50,274,500 - or about the same price as a mansion inside an exclusive subdivision here in the country.

Christened as the “Strap Tank”, this vintage 1907 motorcycle is thought to be an early design evolution of the motorcycles that Willian Harley and Arthur Davidson – founding fathers of Harley-Davidson – built together in their Milwaukee garage.

The Strap Tank was founded by David Uihlein in the 1940s who was the owner for more than six decades. The name Strap Tank was a reference to the way the bike’s fuel and oil tank are strapped to the frame with the use of nickel straps.

This particular Strap Tank, with all period-correct components, was recently sold at a Las Vegas auction for USD 850,000, with an additional USD 85,000 in auction fees and taxes, bringing the total amount to USD 935,000. It is estimated that there are only less than a dozen of these Strap Tanks that remain around the world, either in the hands of collectors or in barns waiting to be resurrected.